FEELING YOUNG TODAY, FEELING GOOD TOMORROW? MICROLONGITUDINAL DYNAMICS IN SUBJECTIVE AGE

Abstract Insights into the short-term dynamics and micro-longitudinal consequences of subjective age can drive our understanding of its long-term mechanisms across adulthood. Using data from 80 newly retired individuals (aged 59 to 76 years; 59% women) collected on 21 days, we made use of a recent methodological advance—multilevel dynamic structural equation modeling. As possible same-day correlates and micro-longitudinal consequences of subjective age, we investigated physical activity, step number, sleep quality, affect, and stress, which were either assessed via wearables (FitBit Charge HR) or daily diaries. Analyses suggest a weak autoregression of subjective age, indicating that how old one feels is determined via daily rather than lasting experiences. Indeed, there were significant same-day relations to all suggested correlates. The one effect lasting across several days was from an older subjective age on subsequent negative affect—a potential short-term mechanism contributing to the detrimental long-term influence of an older subjective age.


HOW OLD DO YOU FEEL? CONSIDERING THE CONTEXTS, DYNAMICS, AND ASSESSMENT OF SUBJECTIVE AGE
Chair: Anna Kornadt Co-Chair: Jennifer Bellingtier How old people feel is a highly effective predictor of later life health and well-being. Despite a wealth of research, the developmental dynamics of the construct as well as its antecedents and consequences are not well understood. Our symposium brings together research that models dynamic trajectories in subjective age over long-and short periods of time and links it to psychological constructs and objective indicators of health and functioning. First, Weiss and colleagues present longitudinal findings of subjective age trajectories in a lifespan sample that highlight the reciprocal dynamics between subjective age and social contexts. Bellingtier and colleagues link the age people feel on a daily basis to the age people want to feel and find that when people felt closer to the age they desired, their affect was more positive. Rupprecht and colleagues measured subjective age as well as affect, stress and physical activity on 21 consecutive days. Data attest to the relevance of daily experiences for subjective age. In a similar approach, Tingvold and colleagues show the relationship of momentary subjective age with subjective and physiological stress in late-midlife adults' daily lifes. Finally, Touron and Hughes found that momentary fluctuations in subjective age are associated with current task engagement and enjoyment. Together, the findings show that innovative perspectives and research designs are needed to understand how people respond to the question "How old do you feel" and why it predicts how well they actually age.

I WISH I MAY, I WISH I MIGHT FEEL THE AGE I WISH TONIGHT
Jennifer Bellingtier 1 , Fiona Rupprecht 2 , Shevaun Neupert 3 , and Frieder Lang 4 , 1. Friedrich Schiller University Jena,Jena,Thuringen,Germany,2. University of Vienna,Vienna,Wien,Austria,3. North Carolina State University,Raleigh,North Carolina,United States,Nürnberg,Bayern,Germany Subjective age has traditionally been considered by comparing felt age to chronological age, with those who feel younger reporting more adaptive developmental outcomes. Here we consider a new approach: subjective age discordance, which compares felt ages to the ideal ages of participants. Across eight study days, 116 older and 107 younger adults reported their daily felt and ideal ages. On the majority of days, both older and younger adults idealized ages younger than they felt. The opposite pattern, idealized ages older than felt ages, was rare and primarily seen in younger adults. Days when felt ages were less discordant from ideal ages were characterized by higher levels of positive affect than days with greater subjective age discordance. These findings suggest that positive developmental outcomes can occur not only from feeling younger, but through a greater alignment of ideal and felt ages.

THE DYNAMIC NATURE OF SUBJECTIVE AGE ACROSS THE LIFE SPAN David Weiss, Martin-Luther-University of Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany
A large body of research has confirmed that from childhood to old age most individuals feel significantly younger or older than their chronological age. Up to now, however, there is no clear theoretical understanding as to why younger adults tend to feel on average older and older adults tend to feel on average younger. We adopt a motivated social-cognition perspective on subjective age and examine age-differential antecedents and correlates of subjective age across the adult life span. Results from a cross-sectional study (N = 1652, 18-84 years) and a 9-month longitudinal study (N = 814; 18-84 years) highlight the dynamic link between subjective age bias and individual (motivation and emotion) as well as social factors (social comparison, meta stereotypes). We discuss the role of reciprocal dynamics between individuals and social contexts in explaining why individuals adopt a younger or older subjective age.

FEELING YOUNG TODAY, FEELING GOOD TOMORROW? MICROLONGITUDINAL DYNAMICS IN SUBJECTIVE AGE
Fiona Rupprecht 1 , Laura Schmidt 2 , Monika Sieverding 2 , Jana Nikitin 1 , and Hans-Werner Wahl 3 , 1. University of Vienna,Vienna,Wien,Austria,2. Heidelberg University,Heidelberg,Germany,3. Universität Heidelberg,Heidelberg,Germany Insights into the short-term dynamics and microlongitudinal consequences of subjective age can drive our understanding of its long-term mechanisms across adulthood. Using data from 80 newly retired individuals (aged 59 to 76 years; 59% women) collected on 21 days, we made use of a recent methodological advance-multilevel dynamic structural equation modeling. As possible sameday correlates and micro-longitudinal consequences of subjective age, we investigated physical activity, step number, sleep quality, affect, and stress, which were either assessed via wearables (FitBit Charge HR) or daily diaries. Analyses suggest a weak autoregression of subjective age, indicating that how old one feels is determined via daily rather than lasting experiences. Indeed, there were significant same-day relations to all suggested correlates. The one effect lasting across several days was from an older subjective age on subsequent negative affect-a potential short-term mechanism contributing to the detrimental long-term influence of an older subjective age.

MOMENTARY VARIATION IN SUBJECTIVE AGE, PERCEIVED STRESS, AND PHYSIOLOGICAL REACTIVITY IN LATE MIDLIFE Maiken Tingvold, Lisa Borgmann, and Anna Kornadt, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Diekirch, Luxembourg
The age people feel, their subjective age, can vary on both daily and momentary levels. Previous longitudinal and dailydiary studies have shown that hormonal and self-reported measures of stress covary with subjective age. Our study aims at exploring momentary fluctuations in subjective age and their relation to objective and subjective measures of stress assessed in people's daily lives. 54 participants aged 50 -62 years (Mage = 56.1 yrs, 75% female) wore sensors recording their physiological reactivity and reported on perceived stress and subjective age six times per day for one week. We found that a lower subjective age was related to a greater heart rate variability and less perceived stress on a momentary level. Our findings confirm and expand studies showing the association of stress and subjective age and their importance for aging processes in late midlife.

THE EXPERIENCE OF SUBJECTIVE AGE DURING EVERYDAY LIFE Dayna Touron, and Matthew Hughes, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina, United States
Empirical work has shown that subjective age is susceptible to momentary fluctuation throughout the day, and in certain contexts like challenging cognitive evaluations. We propose and test a contextual model that describes how momentary experiences impact subjective age, which in turn impacts daily activities and well-being. Using an experience sampling approach, 200 participants were asked to complete 6 surveys per day for a week. Questions asked about the task they were engaged in, including mental, physical and social engagement, challenge, motivation, confidence, and enjoyment. Participants also completed a manipulation of mental challenge and reported their momentary subjective age. Preliminary multilevel models show that certain momentary factors, such as whether participants were enjoying a task or found the task engaging, predict fluctuations in subjective age. We will also discuss moderators, subjective age domains, time of day effects, and the cross-lagged influence of cognitive stressors over time.

IRVING S. WRIGHT AWARD Thomas Gill, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States
Dr. Gill is a leading international authority on the epidemiology and prevention of disability among older persons. His nomination for the Wright Award lauded his groundbreaking research on the mechanisms underlying and interventions targeting functional decline and disability among community-living older persons., He collaborates with investigators throughout the country, is a leader of multisite clinical trials, and is a devoted mentor. He has published more than 350 original reports and has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and multiple foundations since 1997. Dr. Gill is the Humana The geroscience hypothesis posits that common biological mechanisms of aging drive susceptibility of aged individuals to functional decline, multi-morbidity, and death. The promise of geroscience is that some of these mechanisms may be intervenable, thereby preventing or delaying declines, and providing new therapeutic opportunities for hard-totreat chronic diseases. This is supported by specific examples of translational research models, and interventions that are at the point of entering human clinical trials. This award presentation will review how we are reimagining existing resources and creating new translational frameworks to test the geroscience hypothesis in humans.